DTE Energy Company : Fermi 2 Power Plant Back in Service Following Successful Refueling Outage

05/05/2012 | 01:15pm US/Eastern

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NEWPORT, Mich., May 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Plant returned to service today when operators synchronized the plant to DTE Energy's electrical system, following a safe, successful refueling and maintenance outage that began March 26. Currently operating at about 25 percent power, the plant will gradually increase to full power over the next several days.

"The Fermi 2 team completed an enormous amount of work during the outage, while always keeping safety as the top priority," said Jack Davis, senior vice president and Chief Nuclear Officer. "This maintenance work will help us to continue sending clean, safe energy to our customers in southeast Michigan."

More than 1,400 supplemental workers were at Fermi 2 to support the large amount of work. Many of those workers were from the local southeast Michigan area. The work generated significant economic support for the local economy, through the purchase of goods and services in the area by the supplemental workers, as well as Fermi 2's purchase of local and Michigan-based goods and services.

Besides replacing about a third of the fuel in the reactor, Fermi 2 workers performed more than 15,000 separate activities - including inspections and equipment maintenance activities. Some significant jobs included upgrading the cables that connect the emergency diesel generators (EDGs) to the plant and upgrading the piping that supplies cooling water to the EDGs. In addition, new equipment on the transmission switchyard was replaced, to improve grid reliability.

"These are long-term reliability improvements for our facility that will help us continue to operate the plant safely and efficiently for years to come," said Joseph Plona, Fermi 2 site vice president.

Fermi 2, a 1,140-megawatt nuclear power plant, is owned and operated by Detroit Edison, a subsidiary of DTE Energy. DTE Energy (NYSE: DTE) is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its operating units include Detroit Edison, an electric utility serving 2.1 million customers in Southeastern Michigan, MichCon, a natural gas utility serving 1.2 million customers in Michigan and other non-utility, energy businesses focused on gas storage and pipelines, unconventional gas production, power and industrial projects, and energy trading. Information about DTE Energy is available at dteenergy.comand at twitter.com/dte_energy.